Pritt was initially elected to the state House as a Democrat in 2022 but changed his political affiliation to Republican the year after. Republican Party chair Elgine McArdle said in a statement that Pritt had realized that the “Democratic Party of today is not the Democratic Party that our parents grew up with.”

State Republicans have filed numerous bills seeking to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender minors, ban trans student-athletes from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity, and nullify cities’ non-discrimination ordinances.

In 2023, Pritt voted for a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth. State Sen. Mike Azinger (R) said that the bill was needed because gender is “self-evident” and that the bill was needed to stop doctors who want to “chop up a child,” even though gender affirming surgery is almost never performed on minors and the bill banned non-surgical interventions.

Why is it always the ones you most suspect?

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[–] 175 points 3 months ago (42 children)

“Having sex”? There’s no “having ses” with a middle schooler. Its rape. He allegedly raped a child in a classroom.

Why do reporters nearly always defend these men with their word choices?

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago

    Why do reporters nearly always defend these men with their word choices?

    Same reason they don't talk about climate change during periods of record heat, or mega wildfire's, many people tune out

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    If the say rape, the half of the country who voted for Trump immediately tune out. They cannot abide the cognitive dissonance. The rest of us already know the scale of the problem within the GOP. Journalists have to censor the word at this point so it fits within the overton window.

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  • [–] 17 points 3 months ago* (2 children)

    The article is from lgbtqnation, half the country already tuned it out just by seeing the source.

    I don't think they are catering to that other half with this title. But if they were, they really shouldn't.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    We're all pissed off but moral purity is not going to dig us out of this quagmire. The journalists are choosing their words for a reason. Ask them why instead of declaring their motives from within an angry online mob.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago (29 children)

    I’m gonna be devils advocate, and agree with them not using rape in their title wording. Instead it should have highlighted that he coerced and groomed her. I say this because it more accurately describes the situation, per the article this was the purpose of their meetings rather than him forcing himself upon her. It also highlights the danger kids are exposed to on platforms like Roblox and social media

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  • [–] 10 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    You want pedantry?

    Statutory rape is rape. Full stop.

    He allegedly raped a middle schooler who he groomed. Let’s normalize using that in headlines to stress the seriousness and awfulness of the act.

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  • [–] -4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Rape is also a crime that someone must be convicted for. Imagine the worst case scenario where they call him out as a rapist, he's found not guilty with all charges dropped. Now there's a VERY solid case of libel and an endless stream of conservative lawyers ready to try and take down a website they already hate.

    Like, it's irritating but surely we all see how a news source would rather be safe than so-sorry-we're-laying-everyone-off? Can we not see that journalists have to be very careful not open themselves up to litigation by people with way more money and power than them?

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  • [–] 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    They used "allegedly having sex". They can just as easily use "allegedly raped".

    Your argument has already fallen apart anyway. The site updated the title to "GOP lawmaker arrested after allegedly sexually abusing a middle schooler in a classroom".

    People spoke up and they changed it. How about we don't try to quiet people down when we're rightfuly calling for language to be updated to reflect reality?

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago

    Maliciousness is a major component of defamation. It would be easy to prove they published information before a verdict, but the motivation to publish would have to be malicious. Absent some statement by the publisher that they would do anything to destroy that person they despise, just covering a legitimate news story in a normal way wouldn't be considered malicious.

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  • [–] 14 points 3 months ago (24 children)

    I’m gonna be devils advocate, and agree with them not using rape in their title wording.

    The biggest issue here is that they used the word "sex" to describe what happened to a child.

    The devil doesn't need more advocates.

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  • [+] -4 points 3 months ago (24 children)
  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (22 children)

    They were meeting so the lawmaker could rape the student.

    I’m not going to be passive about this. Children can’t have sex.

    Defending this wording says way more about you than me.

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  • [–] -2 points 3 months ago (20 children)

    Does "have sex" imply consent?

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (19 children)

    Yes.

    Children cannot consent to sex with adults. It's rape.

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  • [–] -5 points 3 months ago (18 children)

    So "consensual sex" is a redundant phrase?

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  • [–] 10 points 3 months ago (17 children)

    Yes, it would be considered a redundant phase. Sex without consent is rape.

    Children cannot consent to sex with adults.

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  • [+] -6 points 3 months ago* (16 children)

    I am pretty sure you're wrong about this but I'm unsure where you're pulling this definition from, so maybe that would help sort it out.

    In 1530, could a 14 year old "have sex"? Are you leaning on morality to define sex this way, or legality?

    To be clear, this semantic argument feels much more like virtue signalling than anything else, but I'm open to be convinced it's more than that.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    You’re pretty sure I’m wrong, but you can’t figure out why. Just to be clear - you're pretty sure I'm wrong about children being unable to consent to sex with adults

    We’re not talking about 1530. We’re talking about right now. We’re talking about THIS case with THIS child that was raped by a lawmaker.

    I took issue with the author describing this abuse as “sex” when it is impossible for a child to consent to sex with an adult.

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  • [+] 1 point 3 months ago (15 children)
  • [–] -1 points 3 months ago (14 children)

    Please don't get me wrong, I do think using the word "rape" (when combined with the obligatory "allegedly") is a better title, and a better way to describe the situation, but I don't think using "have sex" is wrong or inaccurate, let alone defending anything.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago* (13 children)

    "Have sex" when describing rape is absolutely inaccurate and implies consent. It's part of our rape culture and how we excuse rape and pedophilia.

    I think it's telling that you came at me for defending this victim instead of any of the commenters here arguing that it's more accurate to describe this act of rape as sex with a child. Literally teamed up with someone calling me a "retard" for accurately calling this for what it is - rape of a child.

    Read the room.

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  • [–] -1 points 3 months ago (12 children)

    What are you even talking about? I didn't "come at you" nor is your semantic argument "defending" anyone lol. I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt that you're not just virtue signalling. I think I'm about done with that now.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 months ago* (11 children)

    Oh yeah, you're innocently just asking questions about whether children can consent to sex or not.

    You don't need to give me the benefit of the doubt. I'm fucking right:

    • Children cannot consent to sex with adults.

    • Sex without consent is rape.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago (10 children)

    Well, a quick look at a dictionary doesn't support this definition you're using, but it does maybe provide me a path to showing you where I'm coming from. The relevant definition I have here is "sexual intercourse". Are you saying that consent is implied in that definition? If yes, which word is providing that implication: "sexual" or "intercourse"?

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago* (9 children)

    I didn't quote a definition.

    I'm not going to get into a tit for tat back and forth on what defines rape and more specifically rape of a child with you.

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  • [–] -1 points 3 months ago (8 children)

    I noticed. Maybe that would have been a good place to start?

    So, if you're not using the dictionary definition, which does not imply consent, why are you pretending it does imply consent? Better, what makes you feel justified in claiming someone is wrong for using a dictionary definition, instead of your seemingly made up personal definition?

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (7 children)

    I'm not going to argue with you about sex without explicit consent. I'm not.

    Make sure you're getting consent from the people you sleep with moving forward. It's important.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    I was wondering how long it would take for you to imply disagreeing with you meant I was confused about consent. You did it everywhere else.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    You're clearly confused about consent. A friendly reminder does no harm.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (4 children)

    At no time did I indicate I didn't understand consent. I only ever questioned your made up personal definition of sex. lol

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    It's not my personal responsibility to teach you about consent and rape.

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  • [–] 0 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    I don't recall asking you to. I'm not confident you'd even be up for the task, to be honest.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago* (3 children)

    When it comes to reporting, they always want to go with what is verifiable, and accurate. That is why they always use phrasing like "alleged", "have sex".

    The legal definition of "rape" varies quite wildly from region to region, and many things the average person would obviously consider rape, may not be in the legal definition, opening up news media and/or the reporter directly to potential legal trouble. For instance in some areas, "rape" requires vaginal penetration by a penis... So legally, a man cannot be "raped". So a report that a woman raped a man there, would technically be inaccurate and potentially defamatory.

    It's much easier to just use generic terms and allegations when reporting, especially if it's not just a local media organization where differing laws for other regions are a factor. Even in situations where the laws aren't likely to be different... sex with a middle schooler is almost surely statutory rape regardless of the area. But standardizing around general statements is the best option to avoid legal issues, even if those aren't likely to be successful, they cost money to defend.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago

    That is what the word allegedly is for. With a child it can never be alleged sex, only alleged rape or alleged sexual assault.

    The child cannot consent. Not by legal definition. Therefore, more false and misleading reporting occurs. Under the implication that a child “had sex” with an adult.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

    If that's their excuse it's pretty lame, it isn't hard to stick to what is verifiable and accurate without implying this 14 year old could consent.

    The headline is a statement about what was alleged. It's quick and easy to verify that the allegation included Pritt sticking his penis in her mouth (the full affidavit is here). I think that meets the common understanding of 'rape,' it does meet the federal uniform crime reporting definition of rape, and it would be 2nd degree felony sexual assault in WV law.

    Even if the specifics were harder to verify and the reporter was looking for a broader term than 'rape,' something like 'sexually abused' would be much more accurate than 'had sex with.' And it's important to be accurate with this because describing sexual violence as a type of sex instead of a type of violence makes it seem like a normal thing for people to want to do.

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  • [–] 54 points 3 months ago

    Oh would you look at that? Once again it's not a trans person, gay person or a drag queen.

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  • [–] 33 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Republican Party chair Elgine McArdle said in a statement that Pritt had realized that the [Republicans more aligned with his personal interests]

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  • [–] 113 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    I just sent this to their contact us page.

    This article https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/07/gop-lawmaker-arrested-after-allegedly-having-with-middle-schooler-in-a-classroom/ Titled as "allegedly having sex with middle schooler" is trash rape culture wording. You cannot "have sex" with a child. That is rape. Period, Your readers expect better than to white wash crimes against children like this. Statutory rape is rape. Sex with a child is rape. There is no consent, and thus, no obligation for you to sugar coat article wording like this. Please do better.

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  • [–] 28 points 3 months ago (4 children)
  • [–] 14 points 3 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] 55 points 3 months ago (9 children)

    "having sex with"

    Nope, he raped a child.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago* (4 children)

    Yeah, change the title @Sunflier@lemmy.world that's wrong. The article says "allegedly sexually abusing a middle schooler in a classroom".

    Edit: just saw that was the original article title. Utter crap on the part of lgbtqnation, but i think you also should've done better.

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 child)

    Edit: just saw that was the original article title. Utter crap on the part of lgbtqnation, but i think you also should’ve done better.

    Lemmy's politics rules say to use the article title. When Lemmy scraped the website for a title, it was blank. So, I copy + pasted the title that was there at the time I made the post. I don't want to fuck with it, especially since the title was as I origionally posted (not going to risk a rule violation). Also, since Lemmy didn't scrape it, I figure it won't automatically update to any new title.

    Also also, I don't remember every article that I've copy pasted because Lemmy couldn't scrape the title. I am not going to take on the burden of following along and refreshing to see if the articles' titles have changed. Not only is my memory not good enough to recall years of postings, but I also need to sleep.

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  • [–] 24 points 3 months ago (5 children)

    Why is every conservative a pedophile?

    I remember the conservative men I knew in childhood, and they were all woke by modern standards. Some beat their wives bloody, one spent a friend's college fund on sex workers (jokes on him; last I heard she was the best in the business and the rest of us got student debt), several were known rapists, my aunts talked about office parties being 'dangerous', and marital rape was just kind of an assumption.

    But so few of them were pedophiles. Like I completely avoided being raped as a child. What happened? Was I just an unfuckable kid? Were all my friends whose families weren't religious just unfuckable kids?

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but yes, you were an extremely unfuckable kid. I hacked into their mailing lists, meeting minutes, and records, and you would not believe how much time they spent talking about you. One of them said he was feeling very desperate once, and had an opportunity with you, but before he could go through with it he realized he was better than this and it turned his life around and fixed his low self-esteem. The meeting minutes made a point of highlighting that when he was discussing his rock-bottom moment, that he may stoop so low as to assaulting you, the assembled people audibly said "eww" and gasped. When he said he couldn't bring himself to do it, everyone applauded.

    Sorry champ. But the good news is you grew out of it, like that classic kid's story, The Unfuckable Duckling!

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Were all my friends whose families weren't religious just unfuckable kids?

    First, in my anecdotal knowledge, religious is more likely than non-religious. Second, they just don't talk about it.

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  • [–] 20 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    They forget the part where you need to be filthy rich to get away with this.

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  • [–] 19 points 3 months ago

    "Democratic Party of today is not the Democratic Party that our parents grew up with.”

    Joins the Republican party and rapes kids.

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  • [–] 16 points 3 months ago* (3 children)

    PEDO PARTY

    If Dems were good at messaging, which they aren't, they'd blast this everywhere imaginable to make the name really stick.

    If Republicans can make the public believe Haitian immigrants were cooking and eating people's pets then Dems can make people believe something that's pretty obvious at this point.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago

    Pritt was initially elected to the state House as a Democrat in 2022 but changed his political affiliation to Republican the year after. Republican Party chair Elgine McArdle said in a statement that Pritt had realized that the “Democratic Party of today is not the Democratic Party that our parents grew up with.”

    So much to unpack here. Originally a Dem, but switched to Rep without realizing how far they are from the Republican party "our parents grew up with"? Or perhaps his pedophilia and instinct to project onto others made him realize the Republicans are a better fit for him?

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  • [–] 16 points 3 months ago

    There are many times I wish people would resist arrest, this is one of those times

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  • [–] 16 points 3 months ago

    “While every person is entitled to the presumption of innocence and due process under the law, charges involving the exploitation and abuse of children strike at the core of the public trust,” Holstein said. “The people of his district deserve representation that is beyond reproach, and these allegations make it impossible for him to effectively serve.”

    Yes, he should resign from office for the good of the party. It's very hard to bury this kind of thing while the rapist is still in office.

    Also, yet another one for the pile:

    Republican Sexual Predators, Abusers, and Enablers Pt. 61 - 1500 and counting.

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  • [+] 10 points 3 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] [M] 9 points 3 months ago (9 children)

    FYI - A lot of the discussion here about the headline is now irrelevant that the source saw the light and corrected it:

    "GOP lawmaker arrested after allegedly sexually abusing a middle schooler in a classroom"

    OP - If you can update your headline to match, that would be great!

    And, yes "having sex" in this context, is rape apology.

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  • [–] [S] 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (8 children)

    I'd gladly do so if you add an expressed permission in the rules to guaruntee that some other mod in the future doesn't bjtch about making that sort of change (especially if this happens again to another article down the road). Add text to rule 1. Like add a rule 1a that says something like:

    The original poster may update their Lemmy post's titles to match an updated article title ONLY IF the origional source has updated the article's title subsequent to the original posting on Lemmy.

    Make that change, and I'll happily update it. I just want to shield myself and future posters from arbitrary and capricious moderators.

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  • [–] [M] 2 points 3 months ago* (7 children)

    We require submissions match the source headline.

    The title in the original source changed, it's on you to make sure your title stays updated.

    If you're in reading comments, you can double check and fix the title at the same time.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    The title in the original source changed, it’s on you to make sure your title stays updated.

    If you’re in reading comments, you can double check and fix the title at the same time.

    Is that explicit in the rules? My point is that, while YOU or the current mod team in this exact moment might allow for the change in this specific instance, it would be helpful to memorialize that if/when this happens again in the future.

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  • [–] [M] 1 point 3 months ago* (5 children)

    It IS explicit in the rules, first rule in fact:

    "Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments."

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)

    I followed the rules exactly. The title of my post was an exact match for the article at the time of posting. After reader complaints, the news source decided to change it after the post on Lemmy was made. My point is that it would be helpful to have an adendum (that 1a bit above) that shields people for when that happens. Like, what if they change the title, it gets updated on Lemmy, then it changes again?

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  • [–] [M] 1 point 3 months ago (3 children)

    At the time of posting, and after a bunch of complaints I'm sure, based on the discussion here ALONE, the original source editorially corrected the headline.

    You should have the common sense to do the same, if you don't, I can just remove the post.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

    I'm not arguing about removing or not removing the post. Hell, I am not arguing about wether to change the title. I already changed it. I am raising the concern about future instances. This has the potential for repeatability, and mods cycle in and out. That makes the instant title change concern or statement from you (one mod) an inherently subjective application

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  • [–] [M] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    It's always tricky, but thanks for updating it!

    The real problem are the "live" stories that update the headline every time you turn around.

    The only solution is to watch it continually and update where applicable,

    But I never outright remove something without giving the OP a heads up and a reasonable amount of time to fix it.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 months ago

    DEMONRATS are just ANGRY he's not One of THEM now! FREE PRITT! He did NOTHING wrong!

    -Republicans!

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  • [–] 15 points 3 months ago

    That’s called rape and pedophilia. Coward ass journalists today.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago*

    Man, thats why you gotta watch these kids when they're on games like Roblox. Pedos are always lurking.

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